A counsellor at the Family Life Centre in Parkwood, a Wits professor and a student travelled more than 13 000km to present at the 31st International Congress of Psychology in Yokohama, Japan.
Karen Moross, together with the chairperson of Wits University Department of Psychology, Professor Gillian Finchilescu, and Wits doctoral student Soloshni Muthal presented at the annual conference which seeks to get psychologists from around the world sharing ideas and engaging in face-to-face discussions to find solutions to pressing issues.
Moross said all three presented using the same Q methodology described by Finchilescu as ‘a quantitative and qualitative methodology aimed at recognising different perspectives about a certain issue through putting together people who share the same opinions’.
The counsellor’s chosen topic for her presentation was Cyberbullying: Youth’s perceptions in a South African school context.
“The focus of this study is to explore the perceptions of cyberbullying as viewed by adolescents,” said Moross.
“The primary aim is to acquire an understanding of youth’s subjective viewpoints of what constitutes cyberbullying behaviour in a South African school context.”
According to Moross, cyberbullying is everywhere all the time. She said many parents thought technology would be easy to monitor, but unfortunately it has become increasingly evident that monitoring is no longer the answer for older children. “When children are little, it’s much easier to have a handle on what they’re doing, what their passwords are and what access they’ve got,” said Moross.
“But with the Smartphones and smart technology, communication is massive and across multiple platforms.”
She said one of the solutions to the problem is to create critical thinking adolescents by getting parents and educators on board. “Parents need to cross the digital divide; it’s a lame excuse to say we are not tech savvy,” she said.
“My feeling is around creating critical thinking individuals and that starts at a very early age.”
Finchilescu, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Cape Town and a doctorate from Oxford University, said the highlight of the conference was being in Japan, which is a fascinating society. “We really enjoyed exploring the surrounds and gardens of Yokohama. The conference was very big, with numerous parallel sessions,” said the professor.
“The technology employed by the organisers was impressive, from the conference programme appearing on our cellphones, to the computers and data projectors available in each venue.”
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